New York -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Pedro Hernandez was arraigned early Friday evening on a second-degree murder charge tied to the case of Etan Patz , the New York boy whose disappearance 33 years to the day spurred nationwide attention about missing children .

The suspect appeared about 6:25 p.m. Friday via video feed from Manhattan 's Bellevue Hospital , where he is being held for evaluation and is on suicide watch , according to a law enforcement source .

Judge Matthew Sciarrino presided over the proceedings from a New York courtroom , where people watched the arraignment .

Sciarrino denied bail for Hernandez after defense attorney Harvey Fishbein said the suspect has a `` long psychiatric history '' including schizophrenia , bipolar disorder and hallucinations . The lawyer asked that Hernandez undergo a full psychiatric evaluation , a request the judge granted .

Dressed in an orange jumpsuit and sitting at a brown table , Hernandez did not speak and showed no evident emotion during the proceedings .

The next major step in the legal process would be for a grand jury to hear prosecutors ' evidence against Hernandez for a potential indictment , after the defense waived its right to an expedited indictment on Friday . It is not clear when this might happen .

Earlier Friday , Hernandez was sent to the hospital `` because he 's on medications , and we prefer to administer those in a hospital setting , '' said police spokesman Paul Browne , who declined to elaborate on the medications .

`` When Hernandez arrived at the hospital , he began making statements that he wanted to die , and a psychiatric evaluation was ordered , '' added the law enforcement source .

The former Manhattan stock clerk who lived in Etan 's neighborhood when the boy vanished was arrested the previous day by police following up on a tip .

Neighbors say suspect in Patz killing lived a quiet life with his family

Hernandez , who was 19 in 1979 , told police he lured Etan to a store with the promise of a soda , choked him and placed his body in the trash about a block and a half away , Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said . The boy was killed in the basement of a Manhattan building , according to the charging document filed late Friday afternoon by the Manhattan district attorney 's office .

`` Detectives believe in the credibility of the statement , '' Kelly said , although investigators had not uncovered any forensic evidence linking Hernandez to the boy 's disappearance .

Kelly said it is unlikely that Etan 's remains would be found .

Patz investigation a 33-year-long roller coaster ride

`` He did the right thing , you know , to confess , '' Hernandez 's brother-in-law Jose Lopez told CNN affiliate KYW . `` Get this thing over with for the people out there and the family over here . ''

But Lisa Cohen , whose 2009 book , `` After Etan , '' is widely considered the definitive account of the case , said she 's not convinced that Hernandez killed the boy .

`` No , I 'm not , but that 's not necessarily because he did n't do it , '' she said . `` That 's just because this has just happened . I 'd never heard his name before . ''

Hernandez has no criminal record and is the father of a teenage girl , Kelly said .

Etan , 6 , went missing on May 25 , 1979 , a block from his home in Manhattan . He was walking to school alone for the first time when he vanished .

His disappearance helped spawn a national movement to raise awareness of missing children , including the then-novel approach of putting an image of the child 's face on thousands of milk cartons .

Missing child case ` awakened America '

In the years after Etan 's disappearance , Hernandez told a family member and others that he had `` done a bad thing '' and killed a child in New York , police said .

While the motive remained unclear , Kelly described it as a crime of opportunity and said Hernandez was remorseful .

`` The detectives thought it was a feeling of relief on his part , '' he said .

Other employees of the store were interviewed after Etan disappeared , but not Hernandez , police said .

`` I ca n't tell you why , '' Kelly said .

The police investigation continues , as does the FBI 's , the agency said in a statement Thursday night .

`` The FBI 's investigation into the disappearance of Etan Patz remains active and ongoing . We remain determined to solve this case , '' FBI Assistant Director Janice K. Fedarcyk said in the statement .

Thursday 's arrest came nearly a month after investigators searched the former basement workshop of carpenter Othniel Miller , who had given Etan a dollar the day before the boy 's disappearance for helping him around the shop . Etan had said before he disappeared that he planned to use the dollar to buy a soda .

The search produced no apparent clues .

`` Mr. Miller is relieved by these developments , as he was not involved in any way with Etan Patz 's disappearance , '' said Miller 's attorney , Michael C. Farkas . `` At the same time , Mr. Miller is very pleased that those responsible for this heinous crime may be brought to justice , and the Patz family may finally have the closure they deserve . ''

A separate law enforcement source said Thursday that Hernandez 's claims were being treated with `` a healthy dose of skepticism . ''

The tipster whose information led to Hernandez 's arrest contacted authorities months ago after news coverage of their renewed search . That contact , at least in part , prompted investigators to question Hernandez .

A spokeswoman for the Manhattan district attorney 's office , which reopened the case in 2010 , declined to comment on the recent development .

Etan was officially declared dead in 2001 as part of a lawsuit filed by his family against Jose Antonio Ramos , a drifter and convicted child molester acquainted with Etan 's baby sitter .

A judge found Ramos responsible for the boy 's death and ordered him to pay the family $ 2 million , money the Patz family has never received .

Although Ramos was considered a key focus of the investigation for years , he has never been charged in the case . He is serving a 20-year prison sentence in Pennsylvania for molesting another boy and is set to be released this year .

President Ronald Reagan named May 25 , the day Etan went missing , as National Missing Children 's Day .

CNN 's Ross Levitt and Jordana Ossad contributed to this report .

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NEW : Pedro Hernandez is quiet and shows no apparent emotion during his arraignment

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NEW : His lawyer cites Hernandez 's `` long psychiatric history ''

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Authorities believe Hernandez killed Etan Patz , a New York boy who went missing 33 years ago

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Investigators have not found forensic evidence linking him to the case , official says